College Board To End Ballpark Plans With Oakland Athletics

Much to the surprise of the Oakland Athletics, the governing board of the community college that owns land on the site of the new team’s stadium has ordered their chancellor to stop moving forward with the A’s.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Peralta Community College District governing board had a closed-door meeting on Tuesday. Chancellor Jowel Laguerre was reportedly directed to discontinue “community engagement” talks with the Athletics, and to focus instead on the school and its student body.

Laguerre says:

“The District will work with its students, faculty, staff, administrators and community to reimagine the District’s needs and assess the resources to meet them. We will develop a robust and inclusive engagement process to assess our needs and partnerships aligned with our mission. The Board of Trustees will continue due diligence in determining the costs and benefits of potential development.”

The team was planning on a 35,000-seat ballpark on a 15-acre property.

The Athletics said in a statement:

“We are shocked by Peralta’s decision to not move forward. All we wanted to do was enter into a conversation about how to make this work for all of Oakland, Laney, and the Peralta Community College District. We are disappointed that we will not have that opportunity.”